Thursday, December 16, 2010

Smithsonian Gay Bashing

Controversy continues over the action 2 weeks ago by the NationalPortrait Gallery which removed a 4 minute video by the late artistDavid Wojnarowicz from an exhibit on sexual difference in Americanportraiture. The video titled A Fire in My Belly was removed from theHide/Seek: Difference & Desire in American Portraiture exhibit afterstrong protests from Catholic League president William Donahue &the office of incoming House Speaker John Boehner over a portrayalin it of a small crucifix covered with ants. Donahue called it "hatespeech." Last Thursday, the Washington Post reported that James T.Bartlett, a member of the Museum's advisory panel, resigned over thedecision to remove the video. Now The Andy Warhol Foundation onMonday threatened to end funding to the Smithsonian Institutionunless it restores a piece of controversial video art that was pulledfrom a National Portrait Gallery exhibition. Updates to Come…:)Exclusive Audio Interview Montage on Stu Maddux new film Gen Silent addressing discrimination against LGBT Seniors @ OUTTAKE VOICES™

1 Comments:

Frank Rich said...

Gay artist David Wojnarowicz's artwork wasn’t taken down because it offended Christians—that was just a perfunctory cover for the homophobia actually driving the complaint of a right-wing activist. Even in a time of huge progress in gay civil rights, homophobia remains among the last permissible bigotries in America.The Smithsonian’s behavior and the ensuing silence in official Washington are jarring echoes of those days when American political leaders stood by idly amid an AIDS epidemic—and a throwback to the culture wars we thought we were getting past now. Instead, it still seems an unwritten rule in establishment Washington that homophobia is at most a misdemeanor. America’s signature cultural institution” can still be easily bullied by bigots.